France is back in the World Cup final for the first time since Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt in 2006.
Twelve years after one of soccer’s most infamous moments
Scott Darling Jersey , Samuel Umtiti used his head to score from a corner kick in the 51st minute and earn France a 1-0 victory over Belgium in the first
of the all-European semifinals.
The French players danced on the field after the final whistle and shook the hand of Thierry Henry, who helped Les Bleus win the World Cup in 1998 and is now
Belgium’s assistant coach.
France will face either Croatia or England in the final on Sunday in Moscow. Those two teams play in the other semifinal match on Wednesday, also in
Moscow.
France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris produced a great save in each half, denying the potent Belgian attack of Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku the
chance to advance the country to its first major final.
TENNIS
LONDON (AP) – Serena Williams came up with a comeback to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, then walked off Centre Court with her right index finger
aloft.
Williams moved closer to her eighth title at the All England Club and 24th Grand Slam trophy overall – but first since missing more than a year while
having a baby – by beating 52nd-ranked Camila Giorgi of Italy 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in
the quarterfinals.
Next up for the 36-year-old American is a match against No. 13 seed Julia Goerges of Germany, a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 winner against No. 20 Kiki Bertens of the
Netherlands.
The other semifinal Thursday will be No. 11 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany vs. No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. Kerber needed seven match points to close
out No. 14 Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 7-5 at Centre Court, while Ostapenko
defeated 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 7-5, 6-4
on a windy No. 1 Court.
In the last men’s quarterfinal, which was suspended because of darkness after the third set Monday night, 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro
defeated Gilles Simon of France 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5)
Adam Henrique Jersey , 5-7, 7-6 (5).
NBA
LAS VEGAS (AP) – NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is certain that changes are coming to the league.
Some are easy, others, not so much.
Speaking after the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting, Silver said he thinks the league is ready to scrap the rule requiring players to be out of high school
for a year before becoming eligible to enter the draft. That one should be
relatively simple to move forward now, while notions such as how to find more
competitive balance are still a puzzler to the league and its commissioner.
Silver said he loves `where the league is right now,’ but believe there cold be a better system. Part of that, he thinks, will be reverting back to the
policy that will allow players to go into the league right out of high school –
something that should be in place in time for the 2021 NBA Draft, though that
timeline has not been formally announced.
Any change to the rule will require that the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement will have to be amended.
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Michele Roberts was unanimously re-elected to another four-year term as executive director of the National Basketball Players
Association.
Roberts first moved into the role in 2014, about two years before the players and the league agreed on the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. The
extension means that Roberts will almost certainly be deeply involved in
negotiating whatever the next CBA will look like.
The union was without an executive director for more than a year before Roberts got the job, and she said overcoming the skepticism of players – who
were reeling after the way Billy Hunter’s term as director came to a turbulent
end – was critical to her success.
Her second term will end in 2022, when both the players and the league can decide to opt out of the current CBA. She said the union is already preparing
for what the next CBA will look like.
NFL
NEW YORK (AP) – The NFL Players Association filed a grievance with the league challenging its national anthem policy.
The union says that the new policy, which the league imposed without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining
agreement and infringes on players’ rights. The filing met a statute of
limitations deadline and will be heard by an independent arbitrator, an NFLPA
spokesman said.
In May, the NFL approved its national anthem policy at its owners meetings in Atlanta. The policy allows players to protest during the national anthem by
staying in the locker room
Jamie Benn Jersey , but forbids them from sitting or taking a knee if they’re on the field or the sidelines. Teams will be subject to fines if players
don’t comply and will have the option of punishing players.
When the league announced the policy, Commissioner Roger Goodell called it a compromise aimed at putting the focus back on football after a tumultuous year
in which television ratings dipped nearly 10 percent; some blamed the protests
for such a drop. The union said at that time that it would file a grievance
against any change in the collective bargaining agreement.
BASEBALL
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The Tampa Bay Rays unveiled an elaborate plan for a new domed stadium that would take them across Tampa Bay to the Ybor City section of
Tampa at a cost of nearly $900 million.
The 30,842-seat stadium would be the smallest in Major League Baseball and would be covered by a fully enclosed and translucent roof, not a retractable
dome.
Stuart Sternberg, principal owner of the Rays since 2005, called the plan ”a dramatic break from the past” and explained the blueprint as the franchise’s la
The Arizona Cardinals' 2018 draft made its reputation on Day 1 with the
selection of a player who the team hopes will become the long-sought franchise
quarterback of years to come.
If the Cardinals got no one in this draft besides Josh Rosen, fans would have called it a rousing success.
And offense turned out to be the theme. Only one of the six players drafted by the Cardinals plays defense, even though their new coach Steve Wilks was
defensive coordinator last year at Carolina.
The choices were simply a function of the names on the Arizona draft board, general manager Steve Keim said.
"In a perfect world, coach and I would have been thrilled to have balance and to fill some positions defensively if those guys warranted those picks," Keim
said. "But we had such high grades on those offensive players, we didn't want to
stray away from the board."
In the second round, Arizona went with homegrown wide receiver Christian Kirk from Texas A&M in the second round.
The Cardinals picked center Mason Cole out of Michigan in the third round and, with their first choice Saturday dipped into the FCS ranks to grab running
back Chase Edmonds of Fordham.
It marked only the second time in the draft's modern era (which began in 1967) that the Cardinals have used their first four picks on the offense. The
other was in 1993.
Finally, in the sixth round, Arizona went defense
Casey Cizikas Jersey , grabbing cornerback Chris Campbell of Penn State. The Cardinals' final pick came third to last in the seventh and final round when
they selected offensive tackle Korey Cunningham of Cincinnati.
But this draft was, first and foremost, about that long-awaited young quarterback for Arizona.
When Carson Palmer retired at the end of last season, there were no QBs on the roster. Now they have Sam Bradford, Mike Glennon and Rosen, who will begin
his new job in earnest at the rookie minicamp in two weeks.
HOME SWEET HOME
No Arizona draftee could have been happier than Kirk, who grew up in the Phoenix area, starring at Saguaro High in Scottsdale before choosing Texas
A&M over staying home at Arizona State. Now he's coming home and keeps
describing the situation as "surreal."
Kirk said he got to know star receiver Larry Fitzgerald when he played on the same Pop Warner team as Kurt Warner's son. Warner would sometimes bring
Fitzgerald along to games and they struck up a friendship.
"I think I was probably in the fourth grade at the time, third or fourth grade, and every time they came out, it was just so crazy," Kirk said.
Kirk will use his old No. 13. That was the Hall of Famer Warner's number, too.
"Exactly, I have to rock it well," Kirk said. "I have a lot to live up to."
CHARACTER
Keim said that as he evolves through his fifth year on the job, he's paying more attention than ever to off-the-field character and the player's love of the
game as he assesses who should be selected. He noted all but Campbell in this
year's class were team captains.
The idea was to go with "strong character guys" that match what Wilks calls his team's DNA.
"I've almost promised myself that we would take guys, even if they're a little less talented
http://www.officialhockeypanthersshop.com/authentic-adidas-james-reimer-jersey , but they have that makeup," Keim said. "... Especially in our first draft
together, we wanted to make a statement."
FCS SUCCESS
Almost every year, the Cardinals dip into the talent at the FCS level, or lower.
This year it was Edmonds, the all-time leading rusher in the Patriot League for yards and touchdowns who could be in a crowded competition for a backup spot
behind 2016 All-Pro David Johnson, as well as a kick and punt returner.
"I'm just looking forward to whatever role Arizona asks me," he said. "Whether it's being a special teams player, being a third-down back, on the
slot, something like that. I'm looking forward to it."
Keim called Edmonds' production "off the charts" and said he would have set the FCS career rushing record had he not been injured during his senior
season.
Some prior Arizona draftees from the FCS ranks or lower include Johnson, taken in the third round out of Northern Iowa in 2015; wide receiver John Brown,
selected in third round out of Pittsburg State (Kan.) in 2014; and
cornerback/special teams player Justin Bethel, picked in the sixth round out of
Presbyterian in 2012.
Oh, and quarterback John Skelton out of Fordham in the fifth round in 2010. He's no longer around.
STILL NEED
Look for defensive players to be signed as undrafted free agents, as well as maybe some late veteran signings. Arizona still needs to find a cornerback to
play opposite Patrick Peterson and is looking for depth at linebacker as the
team transitions from a 3-4 base formation to a 4-3. The Cardinals also could
use some depth at tight end.
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